In state with tobacco ties, Kentucky House OKs smoking ban

1of2Burley tobacco fills a tobacco warehouse in Danville, Ky. The Kentucky House has endorsed a smoking ban in public buildings and most workplaces, but passage in the Senate is not guaranteed. ﻿Photo: Dylan Lovan, STF

2of2FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2013, nurse Debbie Smerk, left, administers a flu shot to Pamela Black at MetroHealth, in Cleveland. A new report shows this winterâs nasty flu season has peaked and is clearly retreating. The flu reached its highest levels around the beginning of January, and stayed there for weeks. The government report out Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, shows flu has become less widespread and less intense in the last couple of weeks. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)Photo: Tony Dejak, STF

FRANKFORT, Ky. - In a state where tobacco interests once had a firm grip on the levers of politics, the Kentucky House of Representatives on Friday passed a ban on smoking in workplaces and indoor public places.

The legislation faces tougher odds in the Republican-controlled state Senate, but passage in the Democratic-led House marks a milestone for a proposal that previously had been snuffed out, year after year, in a state that leads the nation in burley tobacco production.

Years ago, cigarette smoke was ubiquitous during legislative sessions, in committee meeting rooms and in the Senate and House chambers.

On Friday, lawmakers debated individuals' right to light up versus public health concerns in a rural, conservative state with some of the nation's highest rates of smoking, cancer and heart disease.

Supporters said no one has the right on impinge on someone else's health.

"Your rights to liberty stop when you harm other people," said Democratic Rep. Susan Westrom of Lexington, the bill's lead sponsor. Westrom said about 950 people die every year in Kentucky from secondhand smoke exposure.

"We're merely asking people who do smoke, when they're in a public enclosed place or a workplace, to step outside 15 feet to smoke," she said during the hour-long debate.

The measure passed the House, 51-46.

Gov. Steve Beshear hailed the House vote as "an extremely important and significant event."

"It sends a very strong statement … that it is time to move in this direction," Beshear said during a Friday appearance in Lexington. "It is just such a health problem and health issue in the commonwealth, so many of our chronic conditions relate directly back to smoking."

But the Senate may see things differently.

"I am personally not a fan of smoking, but I just don't believe it is the government's role to tell (a business) that you cannot have a facility that smoking takes place in - be it a pool hall a bar or restaurant," Senate President Robert Stivers said.